Race to Hiccup
by Shattered Aura
Summary: One-shots of the Race to the Edge series from Dreamworks, all centered around Hiccup! Simple as that! Enjoy!
1. An Arrow to the Chest

**A/N: Hey guys!**

 **This is my very first How to Train Your Dragon fanfic! Please be nice! I do accept polite constructive criticism and suggestions, though!**

 **This fanfic will be a collection of "What if?" one-shots from the four 'Race to the Edge' seasons. Now, I'm aware some people have done that, but I wanted my own take on it. I like seeing Hiccup hurt, and most of the time I wonder what would have happened if one detail had changed. I decided, why not write it myself?**

 **MY APOLOGIES IF I WRITE SOMETHING VERY SIMILAR TO SOMEONE ELSE'S WORK. I assure you, my goal isn't to copy anyone! These one-shots are simply my take at what I would like to have happened in the episodes! There are more than 15 000 fanfics in this fandom on this website, and I haven't explored nearly every one of them! Please let me know if my work looks like someone else's a lot, and I will check it out and make some changes if need be!**

 **Also, please let me know if the characters are OOC! I have been in the fandom for over a year now, but I still might not nail them**

 **For now, I will start with my own ideas since I have a fair number of them, but once I see fit, I will start taking requests! Please tamper down the requests, for now, thank you!**

 **On a side-note, I'm not the best when it comes to titles, so feel free to suggest names for one-shots and I will have them changed if I like them!**

 **This first one-shot is based on Season 2 of Race to the Edge, Episode 11: A Time to Skrill. At the end of the episode, Hiccup throws himself in front of the Skrill to protect it from Ryker's arrow, and in turn, Toothless saves Hiccup by throwing himself in front of his rider, letting the arrow hit him instead. In my one-shot, what if Toothless didn't make it in time?**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.**

 **With that said, please R & R, and most importantly, enjoy!**

XxX

"Cage him up," Ryker ordered, "and muzzle the Night Fury."

Hiccup gulped as he was pushed toward the rest of the riders. He felt helpless, having fallen into Ryker's trap yet again. However, the feeling only lasted for a second as he stared at the Skrill stuck in the cage. Hiccup hummed to himself, a smirk gracing his features.

Astrid glanced at him, skeptical. "What are you thinking?"

As the Skrill rammed its head into the bars, Hiccup replied, "That the enemy of my enemy—"

"—might kill us all?" Astrid interrupted, uncertain of where the auburn haired boy was going.

"Yes," he confirmed, ignoring Astrid's stricken look, "but he also might help us." And with that said, he sprinted toward the hunters holding his dragon hostage and narrowly avoided getting sliced by a sword in the process. He threw himself against the hunters, freeing the Night Fury from the net holding him. "Toothless, the cage!" he shouted, pointing at the Skrill.

Toothless rushed to the water and attempted to push the cage on land. He met the Skrill's eyes as he pushed and used more of his strength. He failed at first, but then focused all of his energy on getting the cage on land and with one final push, he succeeded.

The sky suddenly became illuminated with bolts of lightning, and Dagur and Ryker found themselves staring at the Skrill with wide eyes as it escaped its metal imprisonment and channeled the energy from the lightning bolts into its mouth with one mighty roar. The Skrill fired at the hunters, knocking a group of them down with one strike.

Ryker annoyingly aimed a dragon root coated arrow at the powerful dragon. Unfortunately, as it began to fly up in the air, its tail got stuck between two bars.

"No!" Hiccup yelled, watching in despair as Ryker pulled his arm farther back with a sickening smirk. Hiccup rushed to stand in front of the struggling dragon, yelling "No!" again as he put his arms up protectively.

Ryker let out a grunt as he fired the arrow. It headed straight for Hiccup's chest.

As Toothless fought off a few hunters, he heard his rider's alarming yells. His eyes widened at the sight of Hiccup standing straight in the arrow's path. He hurried toward his rider, hoping to take the blow instead.

He wasn't fast enough.

Hiccup closed his eyes and lowered his head, fully expecting the blow.

However, he didn't expect it to hurt this much.

His quiet gasp was muffled by Astrid's wail as she watched the arrow pierce her best friend's skin.

Hiccup stared down at the arrow sticking out of his chest with wide eyes, his breath coming out in short gasps. He slid to his knees, his right side supported by Toothless, who warbled worriedly at him.

"Too-thlessss..." Hiccup whispered, resting his right arm against Toothless' head while trying to remove the arrow with his left. Sadly, the slightest twitch brought endless amounts of pain, and so he fell hard against his dragon with a strained shout.

Ryker chuckled, taking a threatening step toward the downed rider. However, he made the mistake to forget about the Skrill, which was free.

A loud roar pierced the air as more lightning bolts found their way surrounding the Skrill's body.

Hiccup squinted at the Skrill, thinking he and Toothless would be dead in the next few moments. He closed his eyes, anticipating the worst, but he was stumped when he felt the dragon fly over them. All he heard were the sounds of a shot, terrified yells, and footsteps heading his way.

He had no strength left to open his eyes. He found it harder and harder to breathe.

"...Hiccup..."

And he heard no more.

XxX

"...waking up!..."

"...Come on, Hiccup..."

He groaned against the harsh light that filled his eyesight.

"...wanted to see if it would work..."

He internally groaned at whatever Tuffnut had done.

He tested his eyes again, this time blinking against the blurry figures appearing in his vision.

"Hiccup?"

The voice sounded clearer, closer.

Astrid.

He blinked until he could make out the shapes in front of him. Astrid had her hand resting in his hair—how hadn't he noticed?—while Tuffnut was standing next to her holding a small metallic object. Hiccup could only guess Tuffnut had reflected the sunlight on his eyes to wake him up.

Ruffnut was standing to Hiccup's left next to Fishlegs, and Snotlout was standing in front of the bed. All the teens were staring at him.

Hiccup blinked and tried to hoist himself up, but found that his arms were tied to his bed with ropes. He started breathing heavily, panic creeping up his spine.

"Hiccup, it's okay," Astrid soothed, putting her hands on his shoulders. "Don't move, you'll hurt yourself."

"W-Wha..?" he muttered, his voice extremely raw. He tugged at the ropes again, a slight whimper escaping his lips. "W-Why..."

"You trashed around in your sleep," Fishlegs remarked, holding the boy's hand to calm him down. "You nearly ripped your stitches out." The unfamiliar gesture indeed got Hiccup to stop moving but his eyes were still wide.

"W-What sti-tches...?"

Astrid occupied his vision again. "You don't remember what happened to you?" He shook his head, confirming what she thought.

"You got shot!" Ruffnut provided, earning a warning glare from Astrid.

Hiccup's eyes widened. "I—what?" He attempted to get up only to for the ropes to stop him in his tracks. He cried out as the sudden halt caused his wound to throb and he collapsed on his bed, groaning as the pain lingered.

"Hiccup!" Astrid gently scolded. "Stay put. You were badly injured."

Hiccup heavily breathed, weakened from the pain from his wound. He gave a half-hearted tug at one of the ropes, which wouldn't budge. "A-Astrid," he whimpered, closing his eyes so he would avoid the other riders' helpless looks.

Astrid immediately picked up on his feelings and shooed the others outside their leader's hut. One by one they walked out, all but Fishlegs who hesitated in his steps, looking back at his friend with sadness and worry in his eyes before reluctantly leaving.

Once the two were alone in the hut, Hiccup let out another groan. Astrid noticed his right arm was outstretched and his palm was facing her, so she gently grabbed his hand in hers. "You'll be fine in a week," she assured, smoothing back his brown locks with her other hand. "You just need a lot of rest, that's all."

Hiccup blankly stared at a spot in front of him. "W-What ab-bout Too-thle-ess..."

"Toothless is okay," she answered, frowning a bit. "You shouldn't talk too much. You should rest."

"W-Where is he?"

Astrid sighed. "He's outside the hut. He wanted to keep guard."

"A-And the Sk-krill...? D-Dagur and Ryk-er...?"

"Gone, for now," she simply stated. "The Skrill wrecked the hunters' camp and flew away while they fled to Thor knows where."

Hiccup winced as he slightly shifted to get more comfortable, in vain. The wound was starting to bother him. "Get some rest," Astrid whispered, squeezing his hand before letting go and leaving his hut.

"W-Wait!" he whined. "G-Get Dad..."

And with that, he promptly passed out.

XxX

The next time he opened his eyes, he found himself staring at the back of a familiar, burly Viking chief.

"Dad...?" he groggily asked, unconsciously pulling on his ropes only to find out that they weren't there anymore. He tried to get up, letting out a groan as he did so, but somewhat successfully sat up, watching as his father turned around to stare at him with a relieved sigh.

"Aye, son," the man spoke. "Snotlout terrorized half the village when he and his dragon landed. The lad explained everything on our way here." Stoick smoothed his greying beard. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," the boy shrugged.

Stoick shot him a deadpanned look. "Really now."

Hiccup squirmed. "Maybe in a little bit of pain." He winced as his wound throbbed, betraying how he truly felt.

The chief sighed. "You don't need to be strong for me, Hiccup."

The boy remained silent.

Stoick took a good look at his son. Aside from the paleness that came with his recovery, he was skinnier than usual. The bags under Hiccup's eyes were even more apparent on his nearly toneless skin, and his forehead glistened with sweat. Something was obviously worrying him, and knowing Hiccup, the boy would push it aside to care for his team.

 _That's what makes him a good leader_ , Stoick thought to himself, internally proud. For now, though, he had to push his pride and tend to his son.

"Hiccup," he started. His voice held a gentleness rare to him. "Whatever's bothering you, you don't have to deal with it alone." The boy was about to protest when Stoick shushed him, causing him to cast his eyes down with a scowl. "Let me finish. I know how strong you are, son. Everybody does. But some battles you cannot fight alone." The heir looked up at his father. "Now, you're struggling with something and it's wearing you down."

"I can deal with it," Hiccup protested. "Besides, I have Toothless." He looked down. "As long as he's by my side, nothing will happen to me."

"We both know you're not worried about yourself," Stoick countered. "You're worried about the others."

Hiccup paused. "We'll be fine."

Stoick nodded. "Aye; that you will. But you need to let them in; let us in, Hiccup. They're your team. You're not alone in this battle you're fighting."

"He's right," a soft voice spoke from the entrance to Hiccup's hut, causing both father and son to turn around. Astrid stood leaning against the wall with the other riders surrounding her. "We're with you, Hiccup."

"Guys—"

"We'll defeat those hunters," Snotlout affirmed.

"We'll blast their ships!" Ruffnut shouted, and Tuffnut approved with a "Yeah!"

"We'll do it all with you to lead us," Fishlegs added, smiling at his friend.

"You just have to take care of yourself first," Astrid finished, walking over to him and sitting on the other side of his bed, holding his hand.

"I—" Hiccup started, only to give up and shake his head with a smile. His friends were just as stubborn as he was. "Thanks, guys. I could never do it without you all."

"And us all, without you," Astrid replied, stroking her thumb against the back of Hiccup's hand.

Stoick watched the two fondly for a few seconds, then cleared his throat, catching the attention of all the riders. "What's the plan now? From what I was told, those hunters will stop at nothing to get the Dragon Eye."

"We need to hide it," Fishlegs offered, "but where?"

Stoick stroked his beard. "I could take it back to Berk with me."

Hiccup thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No. I can't risk an attack on Berk. It's better it stays with us." He sighed. "I'll think of some place...when I feel better." He yawned, feeling weak from all the talking.

As usual, Astrid picked up on it. "You need rest," she agreed. She shooed everyone out as each teen left the room with their own goodbye to their chief. She then left the two alone in Hiccup's hut with a promise of coming back with water.

Stoick smiled as he watched her leave. "She's a fine lass, son."

Hiccup smiled too and then stared at his father. "Are you going back to Berk?"

"Aye," Stoick replied. "I'll leave tomorrow. It's getting late now." As if emphasizing his claim, he glanced outside then back at his son. "You should get some rest now." He then whistled much to Hiccup's annoyance, which soon turned into surprise as Toothless came bouncing into the hut and around Hiccup, causing the boy to laugh despite the pain it caused.

"Hey, bud," he softly said, petting the Night Fury as Toothless purred, his tail wagging in delight. The dragon nuzzled his rider, and Hiccup fought hard to conceal his flinch as the movement caused his still healing wound to throb slightly.

Stoick chuckled. "I'll leave you two alone, now. Skullcrusher must be getting impatient."

"Just like his rider," Hiccup joked as he watched Stoick retreat out of the hut. He didn't miss the look the chief sent him, though.

"I heard that!" the man gruffly said, but his son merely laughed, causing him to shake his head with a smile. "Goodnight, Hiccup. Remember, things will be alright."

And they would be.


	2. Debt after Debt

**A/N: Hey guys!**

 **Thank you so much for the reviews! Here are my replies:**

 **Tyrannosaurus Ross: Thank you so much! I'm glad you thought so! :D**

 **Guest: I'm glad you are, thank you. :)**

 **WildSugarPatches: Wow, thanks! I'm happy someone from another fandom could still understand most of it! :D**

 **FanWriter02** **:** **Thank you! :)**

 **Anonymous: I thought of doing one in that episode! I loved it! It would definitely be awesome!**

 **midnightsky0612: I know right? :3**

 **DemonQuester777: Aww thank you! :)**

 **Now, I have a couple of things I would like to clarify.**

 **1\. I WILL NOT WRITE REQUESTS JUST YET. As I said in my previous note, I have too many ideas to start writing the requests you give me!  
2\. Once I will start taking requests, I WILL NOT TAKE ANONYMOUS ONES. I like having a name to associate the request with. :)  
3\. This point is for the individual called "Anonymous" who left a review on my previous one-shot. First of all, I will not take your request now because of the two points above. Also, your request was slightly unclear, and if you could possibly sign into your account so we could discuss it via Private Messaging, it would be highly appreciated. :)  
4\. Again, I really want you guys to let me know if I write stuff similar to what other authors may have written, that I haven't seen! I haven't experienced that problem with my previous chapter, but please don't be shy and LET ME KNOW if my next works are similar to someone else's!  
5\. My final point is regarding updates: I will TRY to update once a week, more if I can, but I don't give promises! I have less than four weeks left of my first year of university and I want to make them count and focus! If I don't update next week, don't worry; I will most likely be buried under assignments! This week was pretty hectic too hence why I'm updating late!**

 **And that's pretty much it! Thank you all for the support, I was pleased with the outcome for my first ever HTTYD fanfic! :D**

 **This one-shot is based on Season 2 of Race to the Edge, Episode 6: The Zippleback experience. In the episode, the twins roll a bunch of logs at Hiccup when Barf and Belch is around so that the dragon can save him. However, he didn't succeed. In this one-shot, what if he had?** **The timing will be a little weird, especially at the end, but bear with me. It's the only way I was satisfied with it!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters.**

 **With that said, please R & R, and most importantly, enjoy!**

XxX

 _"Well how are we supposed to take him if he's guarded by TWO dragons?"_

 _"We wait until he's NOT, guarded by two dragons."_

XxX

"NOW, TUFF!"

The twins hopped off the cluster of logs and each grabbed the supporting log with both hands.

"This is the best plan to kill Hiccup EVER!" Tuffnut claimed with an excited smirk on his face.

The twin girl slightly frowned. "You mean 'pretend to kill Hiccup'."

Tuffnut shrugged. "Sure! Tomato tomata."

The twins pushed on the log, causing the cluster to disband and start rolling in Hiccup's direction.

The one-legged boy immediately stared back at the Zippleback about a hundred feet away from him. "Come on, Barf and Belch," he muttered, nervously closing his hands into fists, "let's get moving. Logs rolling." He dared spare a glance at the upcoming logs and raised his tone. "Skinny lives to save!"

The Zippleback, upon noticing their beloved human in danger, let out a squawk of fright and frantically made their way toward Hiccup as the logs got closer and closer to squashing him. They dodged tree after tree with surprising speed with one goal in mind; save Hiccup! Save Hiccup!

The twins eagerly watched the scene unfold in front of them, positive their plan would work this time and they would finally get their dragon back.

However, Hiccup had miscalculated the timing. He realized with a sickening jolt that despite Barf and Belch's speed, dodging trees slowed them down, and they wouldn't reach him in time. "Oh, Thor!" he said, turning his back to the logs and covering his head for protection, not that it would do much to help.

There was a blast, and the logs scattered to completely different directions if they weren't already blasted to pieces. Hiccup looked up with a smile on his face; with the adrenaline still making his heart beat wildly, he simply thought Toothless had blasted it. However, he found himself in awe when the twins' dragon was standing in the way of the logs, hunched over Hiccup to protect him.

Both he and the twins couldn't believe it; the plan had worked!

Hiccup laughed as Barf and Belch licked each side of his face. "You saved me," he breathed, looking at them with his eyes shining. The heads merely nuzzled him.

"Barf!"

"Belch!"

The Zippleback turned around and squawked again in ecstasy as their riders came barreling down the hill toward their dragon. Barf and Belch hurried to their riders and the lot of them collided with shouts of happiness.

Hiccup smiled, glad everything was settled. He slightly jumped when he felt something touch his hand but quickly discovered it was Toothless who nuzzled him, as the Night Fury warbled his content. Hiccup hopped on his back and called out to the twins. "Let's head back to the Clubhouse, guys!"

Toothless roared and shot up, followed by Barf and Belch as the twins hopped on their respective seats.

XxX

Later that day, Hiccup and Astrid were watching the sunset.

"Looks like everything's back to normal," the blonde sighed, crossing her arms in front of her. They both glanced at the twins as they were playing 'bat and nut' with their dragon. "Well, our normal, anyway."

Hiccup chuckled. "Yeah. Couldn't have been sooner."

"I'm glad this whole fiasco is over," Astrid agreed.

They stood in silence for a few minutes until Hiccup broke the silence with a sigh, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Whew, what a day. I think I'll go for a walk to clear my mind." The blonde glanced at him, but Hiccup cut her off before she could speak. "I'd rather go alone."

Astrid shook her head at the boy. "I should go with you. We don't know what's out there."

"We patrolled the island—"

"No," Astrid interrupted, "the twins had to patrol the island but we all know what happened. Snotlout was out doing Thor knows what and Fishlegs and I were busy sorting our weapons. Nobody patrolled the island."

"Astrid, I'll be fine," the leader protested.

"We don't know that," Astrid argued, raising her tone. "I'd rather go with you and make sure you'll be safe."

Hiccup narrowed his eyes. "So you don't think I can take care of myself?"

Astrid's anger faded the second she saw the look on Hiccup's face. "No, Hiccup, I—"

"—think I can't defend myself, exactly," Hiccup finished. "After three years, you would think I'm strong enough to go on my own."

Astrid backed away; the uncharacteristic anger from her best friend quite frankly took her off guard. "That's just not true! We all know how strong you are!" At Hiccup's silence, she continued. "I just want to protect you from the dragon hunters. We both know they'll be after you at some point."

"I can't hide all the time, Astrid," Hiccup concluded. "That'll just give them an excuse to be after me even more." He scowled. "Besides, it's just a walk. Nothing will happen."

"You better be right," Astrid snapped, storming away. Hiccup watched after her retreating back before shaking his head at her and heading in the other direction.

Toothless cocked his head to the side and warbled, going after his rider, but Hiccup threw him a look over his shoulder. "No, bud. Stay here. I won't be long." The dragon shot him a deadpanned looked which was soon discarded when Hiccup added, "We'll go for a flight when I come back." Toothless therefore proceeded to watch the twins play 'bat and nut' in curiosity while Hiccup made his way to the forest.

The wind brushed his face as he sauntered deeper into the woods, a scowl still ever-present on his face. _I thought Astrid of all people would trust me to be alone,_ he thought, _but I shouldn't have snapped…_

However, something _did_ snap.

Hiccup threw a look over his right shoulder with a frown. He could have sworn he'd heard a branch…

Suddenly, he couldn't see anything but darkness. By the time it took him to realize someone had covered his head with some fabric, his hands were tied behind his back and his arms were pinned against his sides with more rope.

"Hey!" he muttered as he was hoisted on someone's shoulder. He was about to accuse Tuffnut or even Snotlout, but his insides churned as it dawned on him that the person was buffer and taller than any of his friends. And he just knew Fishlegs wouldn't do something like that to him, even as a joke. "Let me go!" he yelled, his voice mostly muffled by the fabric as he struggled in the person's arms, in vain.

All too soon, his back hit a solid surface and the fabric was torn off his head. His eyes widened when he spotted two hunters surrounding Ryker and Dagur.

"We finally caught you," Dagur muttered with a smirk, chuckling as he and Ryker glanced at each other. Hiccup narrowed his eyes at his enemies in hopes of concealing his fear.

"So," Dagur started, "looks like your little island stronghold isn't so strong after all." He crouched in front of the rider. "It's completely unguarded from the North." Hiccup's stomach dropped and his mouth popped open as it dawned on him just how the hunters sneaked in undetected. "Y'know, doesn't take much to put in a watch tower." The deranged Berserker chuckled. "No watchtower, now what do you do without a watchtower? It's preposterous."

Hiccup glared.

XxX

Astrid shook her head at the twins upon hearing the small explosions in the air and the whoops. Ruffnut and Tuffnut had started wreaking havoc the second they got their dragon back. She still didn't know where Snotlout was but assumed he had taken patrol while she and Fishlegs did inventory.

And Hiccup still wasn't back.

"That should be the last of it," Fishlegs stated, grabbing one of the two remaining boxes in his hands. Astrid glanced at Stormfly who was curled up near their training ground, but she couldn't see Toothless anywhere, so she assumed Hiccup had come back and taken his dragon on a flight. She sighed as she grabbed the last box and both she and Fishlegs hauled the boxes back to the Clubhouse.

She was surprised when she found the Night Fury sitting in front of the Clubhouse, glaring as he watched across the horizon, lowly growling.

"What's Toothless doing here?" she muttered, catching Fishlegs' attention as he set his box on the floor. That's when Snotlout came bursting into Clubhouse, holding a thin but fairly long object in his hands.

"Where's Hiccup?" he asked them, sounding distressed. Astrid identified the object with a sickening jolt.

An arrow.

A _dragon-root coated_ arrow.

"Oh, no…" she whispered, setting the box on the floor and making her way to Snotlout in one stride. "Where did you find that?"

Snotlout gulped. "I was patrolling the North side of the island and I heard a dragon squawk. The Night Terror that was there got shot by one of these."

Astrid gasped. "If hunters were here, and Hiccup's not…"

Toothless growled.

XxX

"We're gonna extract every little piece of dragon knowledge from that tiny coconut-shaped noggin," Dagur exclaimed as he paced in front of their prisoner. "We're gonna use you to take us to every island that Dragon Eye has led you to."

Hiccup scowled. "And if I don't?"

"Ho ho ho, I hope you don't," Ryker muttered with venom in his tone, pointing his sharp sword at Hiccup. He laughed while Hiccup narrowed his eyes at him, but their moment was interrupted by an explosion to the side of their ship. The hunters trained their eyes on a certain Zippleback as the dragon flew around the ship while Barf spewed gas.

"What the—" Hiccup started but unlike the hunters, he noticed the other riders keeping their distance so they wouldn't be spotted. Hiccup smiled to himself but the smile quickly faded when we saw the hunters approach him. He had to act quickly.

With a yell, he stood up and ran to the other side of the ship, where the twins landed their dragon.

"I'm so glad to see you guys," Hiccup told them while Barf and Belch untied his binds.

"Get on!" Tuffnut shouted, offering his hand, but the hunters soon got out of their initial stupor and rushed the riders. Hiccup caught one's arm just as the hunter was going to deliver a blow, but Ruffnut ordered Barf to knock the hunter out of the way with a whoop. "Hurry!" the girl said, but Hiccup realized that the hunters would take no less than five seconds to shoot an arrow toward the dragon, so they had to fight on deck.

Thankfully, the others chose that moment to start attacking the ship. "Take out the catapults!" Astrid yelled as Stormfly shot her spines, taking one catapult out along with a hunter.

The twins were trying their best to protect Hiccup as hunters began to swarm them. However, they were pushed aside by Ryker, who grumbled, "I've had enough of this," while making his way toward Hiccup. In two strides, he threw the rider to the ground, ignoring the twins shouting their leader's name as he raised his sword.

Hiccup gasped and covered his head protectively. He waited for the blow that never came. When he looked up, he saw Ryker hit the deck and felt two pairs of arms grab him. He began to panic, but then realized he was being hoisted on Barf and Belch by the twins. The dragon quickly took off to join the others.

However, Hiccup was the first to notice Dagur aim the crossbow at him. "Look out!" he shouted to the twins. He braced himself against the dragon, but thankfully Astrid noticed quickly enough and commanded Stormfly to shoot spines at Dagur. None of them hit him, but the sound and proximity distracted him enough for all the riders to be out of range of both arrows and boulders.

The group flew back to the Edge with whoops and laughter while the hunters cursed them out as they retreated.

The flight was short, and soon Hiccup was safely brought back to the Clubhouse. He was quickly pounced on by Toothless as the dragon smothered him in licks while Hiccup laughed. "I'm glad to see you too, bud." The Night Fury simply warbled and nuzzled him.

Since it was night, Hiccup discarded the riders. "Thanks for the rescue, guys. Since the hunters are retreating, they won't try anything else tonight, so you can all go get a good night's sleep. Fishlegs will take first patrol tomorrow morning."

"Night, Hiccup!" Fishlegs said as Snotlout and the twins wordlessly followed him out of the Clubhouse, leaving Hiccup alone with Astrid and their dragons.

It took a moment for Hiccup to realize that he and Astrid had an argument before he got captured, but when he did, he gazed at the floor while sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "Astrid, I—ow!"

The blonde had narrowed her eyes and punched his shoulder. "That's for not listening to me and getting your butt kidnapped." Hiccup stared at her, dumbstruck. Before he could utter a single protest, the blonde pecked his lips. His eyes widened as she cut the kiss off and her expression softened. "That's for being okay." She glared at him again. "You better not do that again." She left the Clubhouse too, whistling for Stormfly to follow her. With a squawk, the Deadly Nadder did.

Toothless made his way to Hiccup's side and cocked his head to the side, warbling his confusion as Hiccup stood there, blinking. "Girls," he grumbled.


	3. Trap: Part 1

**A/N: Hey guys!**

 **Thank you so much for the reviews! Here are my replies:**

 **FanWriter02: Thank you so much! :)**

 **Hiccstridlover13: I'm glad you do! :D**

 **Astronema2345: Yep! I put the summaries in my author's notes underlined for future reference. :)**

 **katurdi: Thank you! ^_^**

 **I wanted to apologize for the long wait. The last month has been hectic, to say the least. On the bright side, I'm completely finished with classes! All I have left are exams which are coming up this week! I should be back to updating once I'm done worrying about grades and studies. :)**

 **This one-shot is based on Season 3 of Race to the Edge, Episode 8: Stryke Out. In the episode, Hiccup and Toothless fall into the hunters' trap and Toothless is forced to battle in dragon fights. In my one-shot, what if Hiccup was the only one caught in the trap?**

 ***IMPORTANT NOTE*  
THIS IS PART ONE ONLY. This will actually be a two-shot! I realized it would be a lot longer than planned so I decided to split it in half! Do not fret; you will get the next part after! I will try to update as soon as I'm done with exams! It is in the process of being written and I already have a few more ideas up my sleeve after I'm done with this one! I'm not out of ideas yet! :P**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters.**

 **With that said, please R & R, and most importantly, enjoy!**

XxX

"There's no one here," Hiccup observed, "It's completely abandoned." He and his cousin Snotlout looked around shortly after having landed on the foreign island, only finding empty cages and no sign of any other hunter activity.

"This place was crawling with dragon hunters this morning," Snotlout stated, furrowing his brows. "Something's wrong."

Hiccup stepped forward. "Did you see anything else? Any dragons?"

Snotlout glanced at the leader. "Well…no."

Their dragons suddenly started growling facing a cave they hadn't seen before. Hiccup looked at Snotlout. "Maybe there _is_ something wrong…" Further claim was interrupted by a dragon roar, coming from inside the cave. "Yeah, really wrong. Come on!" Hiccup started running toward the cave, closely followed by Toothless.

Snotlout shot an annoyed look at Hookfang. "Why'd you tell me to be proactive today?" he whined. The Monstrous Nightmare merely huffed at his rider, causing the teen to follow the other duo.

It was getting darker and darker as both human and dragon made their way down the stairs deeper into the cave. Snotlout trailed behind. "Y'know, I think we've seen wayyy too much of this place already," he nervously rambled. "Maybe it's time to head back, what do you think Hookfang?" The dragon pushed his rider forward, causing Snotlout to shriek.

Hiccup turned back to look at his cousin. "Oh come on, Snotlout. This was your idea!"

"Yes," Snotlout said, "that was _before_ the blood-curdling dragon screams." As if on cue, there was another roar. The four ran down the stairs without hesitation.

The atmosphere was tense as they halted after the last step. Hiccup immediately had a bad feeling. "Stay here, Toothless," he whispered, petting his dragon. Toothless crooned. "This has to be a trap. I don't want you to get caught." The Night Fury huffed but stayed still by the stairs while Hiccup glanced at Snotlout. "I don't like this."

"Me neither," Snotlout muttered, advancing toward one of the cells. He peeked inside only to get the wits scared out of him by a Speed Stinger. He cried out, putting his hand on his chest to feel his heartbeat. He breathed out. "Sooo Hiccup, question question question… How are we going to free these _vicious_ and _wild_ dragons without being, I don't know, EATEN ALIVE?!"

Hiccup sighed, making sure Toothless would stay still before taking a few steps forward. "There's gotta be a switch or a lever somewhere… Once we get them free, we'll just wait them out." He advanced more toward one of the cages, sending a look over his shoulder. "Anything?"

Snotlout grinned in triumph, pointing his thumb at a big lever which conveniently happened to be there. "Yep!" he shouted before pulling it down.

Dragon-proof bars starting coming down behind Hiccup. The boy let out a cry and started running back in order to escape, but he was too late as the bars slammed down on the ground in front of him. He stopped short before he could smack into them and slammed his fists against them. "Snotlout!" Toothless roared and rammed his slender body into the bars hoping to dent them, in vain.

"Hang on, I'll get you out of there!" Snotlout shouted, pulling the lever back up. It only met halfway, causing purple gas to come out of holes in the ground with a hissing noise. Hiccup instinctively threw his arm in front of his face, but that didn't stop the gas from surrounding him as he started coughing.

Snotlout coughed as well. "What is this stuff?" He grunted as he tried to pull the lever to get the gas to stop.

Toothless roared again, wanting to protect his rider but feeling helpless because of the bars and the smoke.

Hiccup coughed again. "Okay, bud. Time to go!" He slowly backed away from the bars, anticipating his dragon's blast. Toothless shot at the bars, only leaving them glowing red from the heat for a few seconds. Hiccup grabbed the bars out of despair and tried to pull them up, but he wasn't nearly strong enough to move them an inch.

He kept coughing, meeting Snotlout's gaze through the bars and purple mist still pouring out of the ground. He sank to his knees and reached through the bars to pet the skin between Toothless' nostrils. He rested his forehead against the bars, his energy slipping out of him at a fast rate.

"That's not good," Snotlout said, panicked. He ran to the bars and tried lifting them like Hiccup had done previously, but they remained motionless. "Hiccup!" the boy yelled, looking at his cousin.

"Go go go," Hiccup shouted as loudly as he could muster, "get Toothless out of here and get help!" Snotlout started running, pausing for a short moment to glance back at Hiccup. "Go!"

The last thing Hiccup heard before losing consciousness was "Hurry, Toothless!"

XxX

 _The hunters rushed the cavern as they heard the hissing noise of the gas stop. They waited for the remaining fume to evaporate and chuckled upon seeing a dark shape within the purple mist. However, they halted once they could clearly see what or rather who the shape was. "Uhhh," one of the hunters started, "where's the dragon?"_

 _The hunter in charge of the operation overheard from his spot near the stairs and narrowed his eyes, approaching the trap. He peaked through the dragon-proof bars, where the leader of the dragon riders lay unconscious. The hunter scowled and looked at his crew. "The boy must have known there would be a trap."_

 _"_ _Sir," another hunter said, "what are we gonna do with 'im? He's not what we're here for."_

 _"_ _No," the leader agreed, letting his gaze trail back to the boy. He smirked. "But he could be of use."_

XxX

"Wh-wh-what?" Snotlout started, coming to a halt in the cave, the other riders behind him, "he's gone! He was right here, I swear!" He pointed at his dragon. "Back me up, Hookfang!" The dragon warbled, pointedly staring at the others.

Snotlout hung his head low, worry clearly showing in his eyes. He couldn't believe he had left his cousin alone! He wasn't particularly fond of Hiccup, but the boy was family and not just by blood.

Tuffnut approached from behind and rested a hand on the shorter boy's shoulder. "There there, little Snotlout." He patted Snotlout's shoulder. "I'm sure Stoick'll forgive you for losing his one and only son."

Snotlout shrugged the twin off. "Not helping!"

"Hey," Astrid snapped at the duo, "focus. We have to find him." Toothless approached her and nuzzled her hand while worryingly warbling. She glanced down and him and pet his snout. "Don't worry, Toothless, we'll find him."

Fishlegs hummed, catching the others'attentions. "Sea slugs," he said, looking at the object he was holding.

"What does that mean?" Snotlout whined.

"Well, Snotlout, it means that those dragons were lured here with food and then gassed with dragon root," the buffer boy stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "What do you think it means?" Fishlegs then tossed the slugs to Hookfang, who swallowed them.

Astrid frowned. "But why bother knocking them out? The dragons were already captured."

"To keep the dragons pacified to make them easier to transport," Heather chimed in. Astrid furrowed her brows even more. She could only imagine what the hunters had done to Hiccup when they found out Toothless wasn't with him…

"So Hiccup is now being taken to **Thor** knows where?" Snotlout shouted, waving his hands in the air and snapping Astrid out of her thoughts. "Great! And there's **no** way of finding him!"

"Do not fret," Tuffnut interrupted, "we will find the missing Hiccup Haddock."

"Yes, that's right," Ruffnut added, "young Snotlout. My brother and I are experts in the delicate and fine arts of; detection—"

"—interrogation—"

"—and infiltration!"

In sync, the twins finished: "We are Thorston and Thorston, sleuths extraordinaire!"

"The best detectives on Berk," Tuffnut supplied.

"Well, really, the only detectives on Berk," Ruffnut helpfully added.

Snotlout face-palmed, while Astrid groaned.

XxX

"Toothless!"

Hiccup's eyes widened and he quickly sat up only to close his eyes at the pounding of his head. He massaged his temples with one of his hands, holding himself upright with the other.

When he opened his eyes again, he was surprised at the sight that greeted him. There was a Gronkle, a Deadly Nadder, a Monstrous Nightmare and a Razorwhip standing next to each other. They all looked thoroughly miserable. "Where am I," he muttered, looking down at his foot which was chained. He kneeled and tugged at the chain, in vain.

Suddenly, he heard a familiar roar coming from behind him. He looked over his shoulder and peaked through the dreadful bars, being met with the sight of a speed stinger being slapped by the tail of another dragon. It screeched in pain and reeled back. "Dragon fights," Hiccup realized with a jolt. "I've got to get out of here."

He heard a door being opened and turned to find the door of his cell wide open with hunters walking in. The Gronkle and Nadder growled at them, but the first hunter slammed his spear against the ground, and the metallic echo made the dragons cower back. "That's right, you smelly beasts. You know who the boss is!"

Hiccup sent them a foul look. The way the hunters were treating the dragons was outright barbaric. He would never get over it.

The second hunter glanced at Hiccup, noticing the boy staring back at them. He nudged the first hunter, who turned around and saw the boy too. He smirked, taking a step toward Hiccup, who stood his ground despite the nervous feeling creeping up his spine.

"Ah, you're awake," the hunter said, chuckling as he saw the boy's resolve slowly leave him. "You better get some rest, boy. I've got a special event planned for you tomorrow."

Hiccup gulped.


End file.
